Photographic copying machine



l969 TATSUMI DOI ETAL 3,480,361

PHOTOGRAPHIC COPYING MACHINE Filed Jan. 30, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 /7may/W001 fi /P00 Mt ZJAVMJ 73010 54/70 INVENTORS B F E ATTORNEYS.

Nov. 25, 1969 TATSUMI DOI ETAL 3,480,361

' PHOTOGRAPHIC COPYING MACHINE Filed Jan. 30, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BATTORNEY6.

United States Patent US. Cl. 35516 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Aphotographic copying machine includes a drum housing a roll of lightsensitive paper. The drum rotates at selective times to feed the lightsensitive paper to its surface for the copying of documents. The drumincludes an internal supply roll, a take-up spool, and a pair of slitsin its periphery.

The invention relates to a photographic copying machine of the type inwhich a light-sensitive paper is attached on the surface of a rotatingdrum for the purpose of continuous copying. More particularly theinvention relates to such machine in which the drum houses a roll oflight-sensitive paper from which unused light-sensitive paper may besupplied to the surface of the drum.

In such machines, a light-sensitive paper has been usually deliveredsheet by sheet from a supply station arranged at one location along theperiphery of the drum and the loaded sheet must be firmly held inposition on the drum by clamping means to prevent a copy getting blurredby shift of the sheet on the drum during the copying process. After suchsheet has served a number of copying processes, it is removed from therotating drum by releasing the clamp, when the loaded sheet comesopposite to an unloading station arranged at another location along theperiphery of the drum. However, when the above drum is used in anelectrophotographic process, a number of units required therefor occupythe space around the drum, so that it is desirable to save space whichis used for the provision of the supply and unloading stations. Inaddition, the above mentioned construction has a disadvantage that morethan one sheet of the light-sensitive paper may be picked up anddelivered by a feeder at the time when a fresh light-sensitive paper isto be supplied to the drum from the stack of such papers.

Therefore, it is the object of the invention to provide a photographiccopying machine of the type specified above in which the drum houses aroll of unused lightsensitive paper and a .spool for taking up a usedportion of the light-sensitive paper.

According to the invention, the photographic copying machine comprises arotary drum having a groove formed at a portion thereof allowingcommunication between the exterior and interior of the drum, a roll ofunused lightsensitive paper detachably and rotatably supported withinsaid drum, a take-up spool rotatably arranged within said drum and fortaking up used portion of the light-sensitive paper, a pair of slits inthe periphery of the drum for allowing the light-sensitive paper to passtherethrough from the interior to the exterior of the drum or reversely,the free end of said light-sensitive paper being initially pulled fromthe roll, led through one of said slits, extended a predetermined lengthalong the outer surface of the drum in close contact therewith andthereafter tied to said take-up spool through the other of said slits,and

means for transmitting a driving force to said take-up spool when it isdesired to replace the light-sensitive paper on the outer surface of thedrum.

The invention will be described below in more detail with reference tothe drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an electrophotographic copying machineshowing one embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 2 is a partly transverse section of the drum used in the embodimentof FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section taken along the line IIIIII shown inFIG. 2, and

FIG. 4 is a schematic view similar to FIG. 1, illustrating anotherembodiment of the invention.

In the drawing, like parts are denoted by same reference numeral.Referring to FIG. 1, a drum 1 is supported and driven by a shaft 2.Around and opposite to the drum 1 are arranged, in turn, a chargingelectrode 3, a developing brush 4, a transfer electrode 5 and a cleanerbrush 6 which constitute a copying assembly together with the drum aswell as a light-sensitive paper carried on the drum. The light-sensitivepaper is pulled out from the roll 13 which is housed inside the drum,passed by a guide roller 15 and through a slit 16, wrapped around a partof the peripheral length of the drum 1, and then led through anotherslit 16' and tied at its free end to a takeup spool 14 through anotherguide roller 16 and a pair of feed rollers 22 and 23.

An optical projector device consisting of a pair of reflecting mirrors9, 9 and a lens 10 projects successive portions of an original 11through the slit 41 onto the light-sensitive paper on the drum as thelatter rotates in the direction indicated by an arrow. To this purpose,the projector may be arranged to move in synchronism with the rotationof the drum. As is well known, imagewise exposure at the slit 41produces a latent image on the charged light-sensitive paper which isthen developed at the developing brush 4 and transferred, at theelectrode 5, to a transfer paper furnished from a roll 7 through feedrollers shown. The transfer paper having the developed image transferredthereon is passed through a fixing unit 8 to complete the copying. Thetransfer paper is shown to be supplied from the roll 7, but is cut to apredetermined length by a cutter not shown. Alternately, the transferpaper may be supplied in sheets of desired length. After the imagetransfer has been finished, the lightsensitive paper is subject tocleaning by the brush 6 to remove residual toners before again passingunder the charging electrode 3. Such cycle is repeated to provideseveral tens of copies with a single light-sensitive paper. Theoperation of the copying machine is controlled from a control panel 12by which number of copies to be obtained is set and by which the timingof various parts of the machine is properly controlled. Since suchcontrol is conventional in the art, further detail of it will not bedescribed herein.

In accordance with the invention, the roll 13 of the light-sensitivepaper is housed within the rotating drum 1, and the free end of thelight-sensitive paper is pulled outside the drum to give a span of apredetermined length on the drum and is then returned inside the drum tobe tied to the take-up spool 14 rotatably arranged therein. After suchspan has served a given number of copying processes, a drive is given tothe take-up spool and/or the feed roller 22 to wind up the usedlight-sensitive paper and to load a fresh light-sensitive paper on thedrum. Such arrangement will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2and 3.

In FIG. 2, the roll 13 is indicated in broken lines and the free end ofthe roll is passed by the guide roller 15 to be pulled outside the drum1 through the slit 16, which, for the purpose of removing and replacingthe roll 13 and spool 14, is provided with a groove along a portion ofits periphery and an arcuate cover 17, commensurate with the groove, ispivoted at 17 to the drum to cover such groove. The light-sensitivepaper is then wrapped around a part of the drum 1, and led through theslit 16', by the guide roller and between the pair of feed rollers 22and 23 to be tied to the take-up spool 14. The groove may be arranged toinclude one or both of the slits 16 and 16'. It will be seen that a partof the lightsensitive paper lying between the guide rollers 15 and 16can be effectively used in the copying process. Such part may be used infull length or a portion thereof may be used for the purpose of copying.In the latter case, the feed of the light-sensitive paper to replaceused one may be adjusted suitably, as will be described later in detail.As is shown in FIG. 3, the drum 1 is provided at one end thereof with ahub 18 in which is formed a recess 19 for receiving a tuppet 20 providedon the shaft 2. The drum is secured in its position on the shaft 2 by aclamping screw 21 which engages with the threaded bore of the shaft atthe other end of the drum to thereby hold the latter axially withrespect to the shaft 2. Thus, by loosening the screw 21, the drum 1 maybe removed from the shaft 2.

The pair of feed rollers 22 and 23 which may be made from elasticmaterials such as rubber are rotatably supported by the end plates ofthe drum so as to press and feed the light-sensitive paper passedtherebetween and a gear 24 which is fixed to the shaft of the roller 22meshes with a central gear 25 loosely fitted over the hub 18. A pinion27 fixedly mounted on the shaft 26 associated with the take-up spool 14also meshes with the gear 25. In order to rotate the gear 25 withrespect to the drum, the gear 25 has a clutch plate 28 provided on itsside, which can be brought into engagement with the counterpart 29provided on a gear 30 slidably and rotatably fitted on the shaft 2 whenthe gear 30 is moved by an operating rod 31 axially to the left, as itis viewed in FIG. 3. Another pinion 32 supported and driven by a shaft33 meshes with the gear 30 at all times, and for this reason has a broadwidth to accommodate for the axial displacement of the gear 30. Theshaft 33 is connected to a source of driving force not shown. In theposition shown in FIG. 3, the gear 25 cannot rotate, but upon actuationof the rod 31 to cause the clutch 28, 29 to become operative, it isrotated on the hub 18 by the drive transmitted to the shaft 33, throughpinion 32, gear 30, and clutch 28, 29. At this time, it is advantageousthat the gear 25 rotates in a direction opposite to the direction inwhich the drum 1 is rotated. On the shaft of the feed roller 22 is fixeda ratchet wheel 34 which is engaged by a pawl 35, thereby preventingreverse rotation of the feed roller 22. The shaft 26 associated with thetake-up spool 14 carries a disk 36 at its one end, and a shaft 37carries another disk 38. The shaft 37 is integral with a bolt 39 screwedin one end plate of the drum, thereby allowing to remove the takeupspool. The take-up spool frictionally engages with the disks 36, 38. Asuitable spring 40 is provided on the shaft of the support for the roll13 to prevent loosening of the light-sensitive paper.

In order to actuate the clutch 28, 29, the operating rod 31 may beoperated manually. However, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the rod31 has two arms and engages at the end of one arm thereof with anannular slot 42 formed in the gear 30. The other arm of the rod 31passes through an opening 43 in a stand 44 and is connected at its endwith the plunger 45 of an electromagnet 46 suitably supported by thestand '44. Leads 47, 48 are connected to the electromagnet and the lead48 is connected to a switch 49 which is normally open and operated by acam 50 carried by the shaft 2. Leads 47 and 51 provide a circuit forenergization of the electromagnet when a pushbutton (not shown) isoperated in the control panel 12 to connect them with a power supply. Itwill be appreciated that the period during which the electromagnet 46 isenergized depends on the shape of the contour of the cam 50. Thus bysuitable design of the cam 50, the length of the light-sensitive paperwhich is fed by the feed roller 22 and taken up by the spool 14 may beselected as desired. In addition, such length may be changed byreplacement of the cam 50. Although the length of the light-sensitivepaper which extends along the outer surface of the drum is fixed to thedistance measured along the periphery of the drum between the slits 16and 16', such span of the light-sensitive paper may not be used in fulllength, but a portion thereof may be utilized as the effective length ofthe light-sensitive paper. In such case, the feed length of thelight-sensitive paper must be varied correspondingly.

In operation, the roll 13 of unused light-sensitive paper and thetake-up spool 14 is mounted in the interior of the drum 1 while thecover 17 is turned open as indicated by chain line. Then the free end ofthe roll is loaded on the surface of the drum and tied to the take-upspool 14 as mentioned previously. The light-sensitive paper, thusloaded, is held stationary with respect to the drum 1 and therefore,when the cover 17 is replaced, the machine is ready for copyingoperation, which takes place as described above. When the loadedlight-sensitive paper has served a given number of copying processes,the operating rod 31 is actuated either manually or automaticallywhereupon the clutch 28, 29 becomes operative and the driving forceimparted to the shaft 33 can be transmitted to the gear 25 through thepinion 32, gear 30, and the clutch 28, 29. Rotation of the gear 25causes rotation of the gear 24 meshing therewith so that the feed roller22 rigidly mounted on the same shaft as the gear 24 is rotated, therebyfeeding the light-sensitive paper toward the take-up spool 14.Simultaneously, the pinion 27 is driven by the gear 25 so that thetake-up spool 14 is driven by frictional engagement with the disks 36,38, thus taking up the light-sensitive paper as fed by the roller 22.The frictional engagement mentioned above permits to wind up only thatlength of the light-sensitive paper fed by the roller 22, and when thediameter of the roll of used light-sensitive paper on the take-up spool14 increases, slip occurs between the latter and the disks 36, 38. Thusit is assured that used light-sensitive paper is taken up by the spool14 and a fresh, unused paper is released from the roll 13 to give arenewed span of lightsensitive paper. When the feed roller has fed thepredetermined length of the light-sensitive paper, the operating rod 31is returned to its original position either manually or bydeenergization of the electromagnet, whereby the clutch 28, 29 becomesdisengaged and the parts restore to the positions shown in FIG. 3. Themachine is ready for effecting another series of copying processes.

In the above description, the light-sensitive paper has been used as amaster plate for transferring an image formed thereon to a separatetransfer paper. However, the light-sensitive paper on the drum may beused to prepare a copy from itself. FIG. 4 shows such an arrangement inwhich a fixing unit 8' is arranged along the periphery of the drum 1between the developing brush 4 and the cleaner brush 6. As shown in FIG.4, the rightseeing image of an original to be copied must be projectedonto the light-sensitive paper. The modification required in theprojector device for this purpose will be obvious to those skilled inthe art, and therefore will not be particularly described herein. Thelight-sensitive paper having the image of the original fixed during itspassage through the fixing unit 8' will be taken up by the spool 14 asbefore. In this case, the feeding operation for the light-sensitivepaper occurs after every copying process. It is possible to completesuch feeding operation during a fragment of one revolution of the drum.It will be noted the cam 50 which has been described in connection withFIG. 3 serves to determine the point during the rotation of the drum atwhich the feeding operation for the light-sensitive paper starts.Therefore, a timed relationship can be established between the copyingand feeding operations in one revolution of the drum.

The feeding operation for the light-sensitive paper may be performedduring the rotation of the drum or when the drum stands still. In oneexample, the drum 1 can contain a roll of light-sensitive paper whichcorresponds to two hundred sheets of B4 size (about X 14 /2 inches). Asingle light-sensitive paper may be used to obtain fifty copies so that10,000 copies of B4 size can be obtained without requiring replacementof the roll.

While the invention has been described with a particular embodimentthereof, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications can be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention. Thus the drive to the gear 25 may be provided by a smallmotor arranged inside the drum and the parts 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33may be omitted. Alternately, the clutch plate 28 on the gear 25 may beslidably arranged to be pressed against a stationary brake disc, therebycausing relative motion between the gear 25 thus held and the gears 24,27 which are rotatably supported on the drum. Therefore, abovedescription and illustration should not be construed as limiting thescope of the invention, which is solely defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A photographic copying machine comprising a base, a drum rotatablymounted on said base and having a removable cover means allowingcommunication between the exterior and interior of the drum, means todetachably and rotatably support a roll of unused light-sensitive paperwithin said drum, a take-up spool rotatably arranged within said drumfor taking up used portions of the lightsensitive paper, pair of slitsin the periphery of the drum for allowing the light-sensitive paper topass therethrough from the interior to the exterior of the drum orreversely, the free end of said light-sensitive paper as released fromthe roll being initially led through one of said slits, extended apredetermined length along the outer surface of the .drum in closecontact therewith and thereafter tied to said take-up spool through theother of said slits, means for selectively transmitting a driving forceto said take-up spool; and means for selectively transmitting a drivingforce to selectively rotate said drum.

2. A photographic copying machine according to claim 1 characterized inthat said remote removable cover means includes a flange at a portion ofthe periphery of the drum and an arcuate cover member removably joinedto the drum so as to normally complement said flange.

3. A photographic copying machine according to claim 2 characterized inthat said groove spans at least one of said slits.

4. A photographic copying machine according to claim 1, characterized byfurther provision of a feed roller arranged in the path of thelight-sensitive paper from the other of said slits to the take-up spooland driven by said means, the arrangement being such that the feedroller positively feeds the light-sensitive paper, while the take-upspool is adapted to wind up only that length of the 1ight-sensitivepaper which is fed by the feed roller.

5. A photographic copying machine according to claim 1, characterized inthat said means comprises a gear loosely fitted over a part of the drumto thereby permit relative rotaton therebetween, and a clutch coupledbetween the gear and an external source of driving force for impartingrotational motion to the gear, said gear being adapted, when driven, tocause said spool to take up used portion of the light-sensitive paper,said gear being driven in opposite direction to the rotational directionof the drum.

6. A photographic copying machine according to claim 1, characterized inthat said take-up spool is driven when the drum stands still.

7. An electrophotographic copying machine according to claim 1,characterized by the provision of a charging electrode, an exposurestation, a developing brush and a transfer electrode arranged, in turn,along and opposite to the periphery of the drum, said exposure stationbeing associated with a projector which projects the image of successiveparts of an original to be copied onto the light-sensitive paper spannedon the outer surface of the drum as the latter rotates, furthercharacterized by the provision of a supply of transfer papers adapted tofurnish the transfer paper sheet by sheet to said transfer electrode,each sheet of the transfer paper having the image of the originaltransferred from the light sensitive paper being thereafter passedthrough a fixing unit.

8. An electrophotographic copying machine according to claim 1,characterized by the provision of a charging electrode, an exposurestation, a developing brush and a fixing unit arranged, in turn, alongand opposite to the periphery of the drum, said exposure station beingassociated with a projector which projects the image of successive partsof an original to be copied onto the lightsensitive paper spanned on theouter surface of the drum as the latter rotates, the light-sensitivepaper having the image of the original developed and fixed thereon beingthereafter taken up by said spool through the other of said slits.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 439,121 10/1890 Crane -17 NORTONANSHER, Primary Examiner D. B. WEBSTER, Assistant Examiner

